UNA women are tearing through Gulf South Conference play with confidence and ease, having defeated West Georgia 60-36 Saturday, Feb. 12, giving them a perfect GSC record of 9-0.

The Lions dominated the glass with 47 rebounds to the Wolves’ 26. UNA hit nine three-pointers and were 62 percent from the free-throw line. The difference in the game was definitely UNA’s ability to shoot well outside, and recover and stop the ball.

“Our defense has been our confidence; we win with our defense,” head coach Terry Fowler said. “We have to keep striving for that and make sure our defense shows up every night.”

UNA’s defense was impressive as West Georgia at no point ever led the game, while the Lions’ largest lead was 26. The women had two players with a double/double: Sanqueeta Meardith with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Niala Harris with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“We win games with our defense,” said Meardith. “As long as we control the game at our pace-be smart on offense-I think we can go on to be undefeated [in conference play].”

The fact that UNA has so many go-to players coming off the bench is an asset to the Lions’ defense as well.

“Players who come off the bench are awesome because they come in and give us good quality minutes and put points on the board,” said Meardith. “It shows that they can keep doing what the starters were doing on the court where we left off; they are just as important as the starters.”

“At the end of the day, when the stage gets the biggest, the biggest player steps forward and assumes their role on the court,” said Fowler. “I expect our girls to be big time players when they need to be, and they are.”

Fowler said that he feels that they have to peak and stride out from there as they get to the tournament. Having not been in region play since 1994, this year could be big for the UNA women’s basketball team.

“I feel like we will go undefeated in conference because of how bad we want it,” said Meardith. “We’re expecting to win games when we get there; we’re not just going to go. We’re going to try to win the Gulf South Conference-that’s our goal.”